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Library 

OF  THE 

University  of  North  Carolina 

This  book  was  presented  by  the 

family  of  the  late 

KEMP  J'L'JM.MEi:  BATTLE, 

Prv.-jideut  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina 

from  1876  to  1890 


/  ,.,- 


REPORT  OF  HOWARD  O,  BANKS 


To    the 


Charlotte    Observer"    of   the    Celebration  at  Guilford 
Battle  Ground,  July  4th,  1893. 


An  immense  concourse  of  patriotic 
North  Carolinians  has  gathered  here 
to-day,  on  this,  the  117th  nnniver- 
pary  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, to  witness  the  unveiling  of 
the  monument  erected  by  Gov. 
Tho8.  M.  Holt  to  the  memory  of  the 
North  Carolina  troops,  who  here,  on 
March  15th,  1781,  under  Maj.  Joseph 
Winston,  fought  the  Hessians  and 
Tarleton's  cavalry  after  the  Conti- 
nental line  had  retreated  from  the 
field  of  battle.  It  is  estimated  that 
there  were  10,000  people  present. 
There  could  not  have  been  less  than 
9,000. 

Shortly  after  11  o'clock  the  line  of 
march  was  formed  at  President 
Schenck's  headquarters.  Twenty 
mounted  marshals,  all  splendid 
physical  specimens,  took  the  lead, 
dressed  in  Continental  uniform,  un- 
der command  of  Chief  Marshal 
Charles  0.  McMichael.  They  formed 
an  exceedingly  prettv  picture. 

Following  them  came  the  Lexing- 
ton silver  cornet  band,  of  sixteen 
pieces,  which  discoursed  the  sweet- 
est music  as  the  procession  moved 
forward.  The  orator  of  the  day, 
chaplain  and  distinguished  guests  in 
carriages  followed,  and  after  them 
the  Charlotte  Naval  Battalion,  North 
Carolina  Confederate  Veterans  and 
members  of  the'  Guilford  Battle 
Ground  Company.  The  procession 
moved  along  through  the  beautiful 
groves  and  grounds,  passing  by 
Leonidas  and  Clyde  Springs,  and 
winding  around  the  almost  crystal- 
clear  Lake  Wilfong,  passing  under 
the  arch  of  welcome,  its  pillars 
wrapped  in  the  national  colors,  and 
the  arch  proper  bearing  on  one  side  : 
"  The  Old  North  State  Forever  "  and 
on  the  reverse :  "  Carolina,  Heaven's 
Blessings  Attend  Her,"  and  arriving 
finally  at  the  speaker's  stand  in  a 
shady  grove  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  field.  During  the  march  Judge 
Schenck's  youngest  son,  Paul  Wil- 
fong Schenck  about  twelve  years  old, 
rode  proudly  by  the  side  of  the  car- 
riage containing  ex-Governor  Holt 


and  hi-  distinguished  father.  This 
pati'iotic  youngster  looked  exceed- 
ingly handsome  in  his  bright  blue 
Continental  uniform  and  lie  sat  upon 
his  Sjiirited  animal  with  an  heredi- 
tary gracefulness  that  lefiected  credit 
upon  the  horsemanship  of  his  Revo- 
lutionary ancestors  who  rede  after 
Cam|)bell,  McDowell  or  Sevier.  One 
of  this  young  man's  ancestors  on 
his  mother's  side,  named  John  Wil- 
fong, distinguished  himself  in  tlie 
battle  of  King's  Mountain. 

K  a  rely  is  such  a  distinguished 
group  of  North  Carolinians  seen  to- 
gether at  one  time.  Any  State  in 
the  Union  might  have  been  proud  in 
the  possession  of  such  sons  and 
daughters. 

On  the  stand  were:  Gov.  P^lias 
Carr;  Chief  Justice  James  E.  Shep- 
herd, of  the  State  Supreme  Court; 
President  Geo.  T.  Winston,  of  the 
University;  Justice  Walter  Clark,  of 
the  State  Supreme  Court ;  Dr.  Kemp 
P.  Battle  and  Prof  E.  A.  Alderman, 
of  the  University ;  Judge  Jesse 
Franklin  Graves,  of  the  Superior 
Court ;  Assistant  Bishop  Joseph  B. 
Cheshire,  of  the  Episcopal  Church  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  T.  H.  Pritchard,  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church,  Charlotte  ;  Hon.  C  B. 
Watson,  of  Winston  ;  Editor  John 
R.  Webster,  of  Webster's  Weekly;  Col. 
Thos.  B.  Keogh,  Col.  Jas.  E.  Boyd, 
Col.  R.  M.  Sloan,  and  Dr.  D.  R. 
Schenck,  ef  Greensboro ;  S.  Witt- 
kowsky,  Esq.,  of  Charlotte;  and 
A!rs  Geo.  T.  Winston  and  Mrs. 
David  Schenck,  with  Misses  Rebecca 
Schenck  and  Lucy  Bevens.  of 
Greensboro ;  Graves  of  Mt.  Airy, 
and  Williamson,  of  Winston. 

Among  the  audience  were  many 
prominent  people.  Among  others 
the  Observer  caught  sight  of  Profes- 
sors Stephen  B.  Weeks,  J.  A.  Holmes 
and  Henry  Louis  Smith.  There 
were  bright-eyed  maidens,  manly 
youths,  winsome  matrons,  strong, 
nitelligent  men  in  the  prime  of  life; 
others  who  have  climbed  the  hill  of 
life  and  descended  far  on  the  other 
side,   on   whose   heads    "  the   enow 


that  never  melts  had  fallen."  But 
the  central  figures  that  towered  above 
all  others  on  this  occasion  and  who 
were  the  cynosure  ol  all  eyes  were 
ex-Governor  Thos.  M.  Holt,  through 
whose  munificence  the  monument 
to  be  unveiled  was  erected,  and  that 
patriot  of  patriots  and  typical  North 
Carolinian,  the  Hon.  David  Schenck, 
but  for  whose  untiring  labors  this 
"  Mecca  of  patriotism  " — to  quote 
Dr.  Pritchard's  felicitious  expression 
— the  Guilford  Battle  Ground,  would 
never  have  been  reclaimed  from  the 
rank  weeds  that  grew  where  heroes 
ghed  their  blood,  and  but  for  whose 
unremitting  studies  some  of  North 
Carolina's  grandest  men  would  have 
remained — with  the  flight  of  time — 
"  unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung," 
and  a  shameful  lie  perpetuated  in 
history.  Yes,  these  were  the  two 
men  that  this  truly  representative 
assemblage  had  gathered  to  honor. 
Beauty,  youth,  chivalry,  age,  genius 
and  intellectuality  had  come  togeth- 
er to  kneel  and  worship  at  the  shrine 
of  patriotism. 
,  Col.  Joseph  Morehead,  of  Greens- 
boro, acted  as  master  of  ceremonies. 
He  first  introduced  Rev.  Dr.  T.  H. 
Pritchard,  who  made  the  opening 
prayer,  which  was  most  fervent  and 
eloquent.  Dr.  Pritchard  said  :  "  We 
thank  Thee,  0  God,  that  in  Thy  in- 
finite wisdom  Thou  didst  determine 
to  create  man,  that  Thou  didst  honor 
him  b}'  making  him  in  Thy  own 
image  ;  that  Thou  didst  endow  him 
with  lofty  capacities  of  mind  and 
heart,  crowning  him  with  glory  and 
honor,  making  him  but  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels.  We  thank  Thee 
for  the  good  providences  by  which 
the  race  has  been  preserved  through 
all  the  perils  and  vicissitudes  of  the 
ages. 

"  We  are  here  to-day  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  of  this  great 
commonwealth,  on  this  the  day  that 
is  sacred  to  the  memories  of  the 
American  people,  to  honor  Thy  great 
name  for  the  kindly  interpositions  of 
Thy  providences  in  behalf  of  our 
people.  As  Thou  didst  call  Abraham 
in  the  olden  time  and  make  him  the 
head  of  a  great  people  whom  Thou 
didst  foster  and  cherish  and  educate 
to  be  the  religious  teacher  of  the 
world  for  all  time,  so  do  we  humbly 


believe  that  Thou  didst  call  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  in  the  long  ago, 
in  tlie  wild  forests  of  Germany  to  be 
the  great  teachers  of  civil  and  relig- 
ious liberty  to  the  world.  Thou 
didst  imbue  their  minds  with  a  per- 
sonal sense  of  independence,  with  a 
love  of  freedom,  with  a  sacred  regard 
for  personal  rights  and  Thou  didst 
so  cherish  these  principles  in  their 
lives  and  characters,  developing  them 
under  the  higher  and  better  auspices 
of  English  government,  until  the 
full  flower  and  development  of  those 
princi[)ks  found  their  fullfilment 
and  glorious  development  in  these 
United  States." 

Dr.  Pritchard  thanked  God  for 
planting  this  people  in  this  fair  land 
of  ours  and  said  :  "  We  thank  'Ihee 
for  the  Puritan  and  the  Cavalier ; 
for  Washington  and  for  Jefferson  and 
for  Madison  and  for  Hamilton  and 
for  Greene  and  ibr  Sumner  and  for 
Sumter  and  for  Marion  and  for  many 
other  heroes,  who  distinguished 
themselves' on  fields  of  battle  in  the 
contest  for  freedom.  We  cherish 
the  memories  of  our  fathers  who 
fought  and  bled  and  died  on  this 
consecrated  spot  and  we  are  gathered 
here  to-day  as  their  descendants 
with  our  hearts  filled  with  the  inspi- 
ration of  patriotism  to  erect  a  monu- 
ment to  their  memories  and  to  cher- 
ish in  sacred  honor  their  names  and 
their  achievements.  We  thank  Thee 
that  Ihou  didst  put  it  in  the  heart 
of  one  of  Thy  servants  to  devote 
time  and  wisdom  and  energy  and 
great  labor  to  the  upbuilding  of  this 
place,  for  the  increase  of  interest  in 
the  part  of  our  people  to  make  this  a 
Mecca  of  patriotism  and  holy  shrine 
for  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  North 
Carolina.  We  rejoice  that  Thou 
didst  put  it  into  the  heart  of  one  of 
Thy  servant* — Thy  patriotic  servant 
— to  erect  this  monument  which  we 
are  to-day  to  unveil." 

Judge  Schenck  was  then  intro- 
duced. He  arose,  leaning  upon  his 
long  staff.  For  the  first  time  in  four 
weeks,  he  said,  he  had  left  a  sick 
chamber.  There  was  a  stoop  in  his 
great,  broad  shoulders  and  feeble- 
ness in  his  step  as  he  came  to  the 
front  of  the  platform.  He  asked 
that  he  might  be  excused  if  he 
should  break  down  before  he  finished . 


But  it  soon  become  apparent  that 
there  was  no  danger  of  this.  The 
old  lion  was  aroused.  As  he  pro- 
gressed in  his  defense  of  the  much 
slandered  North  Carolina  troops, 
who  participated  in  the  fight  at 
Guilford  Court  House,  he  iorgot  that 
he  was  a  sick  man.  At  the  first 
mention  of  the  criminal  injustice 
done  to  our  soldiers  in  this  engage- 
ment by  historians,  a  feeling  of 
righteous  indignation  pervaded  the 
whole  being  of  the  speaker.  It  sent 
the  blood  tingling  to  his  very  finger 
tips;  it  brought  the  fiery  flash  to  his 
eye.  There  was  no  longer  the  stoop 
in  his  shoulders,  the  halt  in  his  gait. 
In  thunder  tones  he  denounced  the 
slanderers. 

Every  intelligent  North  Carolinian 
knows  that  Judge  Schenck  is  a  pa- 
triot. Every  page  of  his  book  glows 
with  patriotism  and  love  of  the  old 
North  State.  The  existence  of  the 
Guilford  battleground  park  is  a  con- 
stant proclamation  of  this  fact.  But 
nobody  can  ever  realize  how  pa- 
triotic— how  intensely,  thrillingly 
patriotic  Judge  Schenck  is  until 
they  have  seen  him  and  heard  him 
speak.  When  once  you  have  heard 
him  pour  forth  with  fiery  eloquence 
the  emotions  of  a  heart  overflowing 
with  love  for  his  state;  when  once 
you  have  seen  the  impulsive  tears 
gush  to  his  eyes  as  he  concludes 
some  sentence  with  the  words: — 
"North  Carolina,  God  bless  her" — 
you  can't  be  very  much  of  a  man  if 
you  don't  find  yourself  feeling  for 
your  handkerchief  to  get  the  mist 
out  of  your  own  eyes.  The  name  of 
Schenck  will  never  cease  to  be  a 
synonym  for  patriotism  in  North 
Carolina  as  long  as  she  is  a  sovereign 
State. 

Judge  Schenck  felt  it  necessary  to 
cut  his  speech  short.  His  conclusion 
was  very  pathetic,  as  he  thanked 
Gov.  Holt  for  his  great  heartedness 
in  building  this  monument  on  the 
spot  where  North  Carolina  troops 
made  the  last  stand  at  Guilford 
Court  House,  after  Gen.  Greene  had 
retired  from  the  field,  thus  leaving 
them  to  face  the  Hessians  and  Tar- 
leton  all  alone.  He  felt  now  that  the 
desire  of  his  heart  had  been  accom- 
plished and  he  could  now  say,  in  all 
reverence,  like  old  Simeon,    "  Lord, 


now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart 
in  peace."  (Judge  Schenck's  speech 
will  be  published  in  full  in  next 
Sunday's  Observer). 

After  Judge  Schenck  had  conclud- 
ed his  magnificent  address,  ex-Gov. 
Holt  was  introduced  and  his  appear- 
ance was  greeted  with  great  applause. 
Gov.  Holt  said  that  he  had  not  come 
prepared  to  make  any  set  speech, 
but  he  hoped  the  audience  would 
excuse  any  egotism  on  his  part  if  he 
said,  pointing  to  the  monument, 
"The  erection  of  that  monument  is 
the  proudest  act  of  my  life."  (Great 
applause.)  "  Read  the  inscription 
on  that  monument  with  one  excep- 
tion (that  relating  to  himself).  It  is 
a  better  speech  than  I  can  make.'^ 
Gov.  Holt  said,  "If  there  is  any  peo- 
ple on  the  face  of  the  American  soil 
entitled  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of 
July  it  is  the  people  of  Alamance 
and  Guilford  counties."  (Great  ap- 
plause). He  had  been  taught,  he 
said,  in  his  school  days  that  the  Re- 
volution was  begun  at  Concord  and 
ended  at  Yorktown,  not  a  word  of 
which  was  true.  It  began  with 
Alamance  and  ended  practically  at 
Guilford  Court  House.     (Applause). 

"  I  had  rather  have  posterity  read 
that  I  erected  that  monument,"  con- 
cluded Gov.  Holt,  "than  have  the 
governorship  to  the  end  of  my  life." 
(Great  applause). 

Prof.  E.  A.  Alderman  then  read, 
with  fine  expression,  the  beautiful 
poem  of  Prof.  Henry  Jerome  Stock- 
ard,  who,  to  the  great  regret  of  all, 
was  unable  to  be  present. 

1  he  Observer  regrets  that  the  space 
is  lacking  to  make  deserved  com- 
ment upon  the  patriotic  speeches  of 
the  following  distinguished  gentle- 
men: Gov.  Elias  Carr,  Chief  Justice 
Shepherd,  President  Geo.  T.  Winston 
of  the  University;  Justice  Walter 
Clark,  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle,  Assistant 
Bishop  Cheshire,  and  Judge  Jesse 
Franklin  Graves,  a  grandson  ofCapt. 
Jesse  Franklin,  who  fought  in  the 
battle. 

The  monument  was  then  unveil- 
ed, upon  the  signal  fired  by  the 
howitzer  of  the  Charlotte  Naval  Re- 
serve, Lieut.  J.  Frank  Wilkes.  The 
unveiling  was  done  by  four  beautiful 
young  ladies,  daughters  of  North 
Carolina,     Miss     Carrie     Holt,     of 


Graham,  a  niece  of  Gov.  Holt;  Miss 
Mary  Moore  Young,  of  Charlotte,  a 
niece  of  Mrs.  Gov.  Holt,  and  Misses 
Lucy  Bevens  and  Madeline  Douglas, 
of  Greensboro,  the  two  former  selected 
by  Gov.  Holt  and  the  two  latter  by 
the  directors  of  the  battle  ground 
company. 

The  monument  is  made  of  Surry 
county  granite  and  is  very  handsome. 
On  the  three  fiices  of  the  monunient 
are  bronze  tablets  bearing  the  follow- 
ing inscriptions : 

IN    MEMORY    OF 

THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    TROOPS 

UNDER    MAJOR   JOtSEPH    WINSTON, 

^       WHO    WERE    FIGUTING    THB    HESSIANS 

AND   TARLETOn's    CAVALRY 

NEAR    THIS   SPOT 

AFTER  THE  CONTINENTAL  LINE 

HAD    RETREATED 

:  FROM  THE  FIELD  OF  BATTLE. 

(2) 

MAJOR    JOSEPH     WINSTON. 

CAPTAIN    JESSE   FRANKLIN. 

RICHARD   TALLIAFERRO. 

Palmam  qui  meruit  ferat. 

(3) 

Erected  by  governor  thomas  m.  holt. 

1893. 

On  the  fourth  face  the  coat  of  arms 
of  North  Carolina  is  embedded. 

In  the  afternoon  Hon.  Cyrus  B. 
Watson,  of  Winston,  delivered  a 
splendid  address  to  the  old  veterans. 
The  picture  he  painted  of  the  battle 
fought  on  the  ground  where  they 
stood  was  intensely  thrilling. 

The  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Com- 
pany was  organized  INIay  7.  1886, 
with  Hon.  D.  Schenck,  President; 
and  Messrs.  J.  W.  Scott,  Julius  A. 
Gray,  D.  W.  C  Benbow  and  T.  B. 
Keogh,  directors. 

Judge  Schenck  was  shortly  before 
ithis  out  on  the  battle  rield  obtaining 
data  for  his  book.     The  place   was 


overgrown  with  briars  and  weeds. 
One  of  his  sons  was  with  him, assisting 
him  in  his  A'ork  The  idea  sudden- 
ly flashed  into  his  mind  that  this 
would  be  the  place  for  the  e-tnblish- 
ment  of  a  park  as  a  place  to  com- 
memorate the  glorious  deeds  of 
North  Carolina's  s tns  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  immediately  went  to  the 
owner  of  the  property  and  asked  his 
price  for  it.  He  was  told  $10  an 
acre.  The  owner  paid  only  SI. 50 an 
acre  for  it.  However,  Judge  Schenck 
at  once  bought  a  large  portion  of  the 
property.  He  went  to  Greensboro 
and  organized  the  Guilford  Battle 
Ground  Company.  Other  portions 
of  the  battle  field  were  soon  after- 
wards bought  and  the  place  gradual- 
ly cleared  oft  and  nuule  the  lovely 
park  it  now  is. 

There  are  monuments  to  tlie 
memory  of  Gen"  Jethro  Sumner;  to 
the  Maryland  Heroes,  erected  by  the 
Maryland  Historical  Society  and 
presented  by  Prof  Graham  Daves,  of 
Baltimore;  to  Col.  Arthur  Forbis, 
and  Capt.  James  Tate,  who  were 
killed  here. 

The  Clvde  Spring  on  tlie  ground 
is  called  for  Mr.  W.  P.  Clyde,  of  New 
York,  who  gave  the  money  to  adorn 
it.  Leonidas  Spring  is  called  for 
i  eonidas  \V.  Springs,  of  Phila- 
delphia, who  was  a  native  of  Meck- 
lenburg. 

Beautiful  Lake  Wilfong  is  named 
for  John  Wilfong,  of  Lincoln  county, 
great-grand-lather  of  Mrs.  Schenck, 
and  who  was  wounded  at  King's 
Mountain. 

There  are  seventy-five  acres  in  the 
grounds  and  the  State  appropriates 
$250  annually  towards  keeping  up 
grounds. 

The  citizens  of  Greensboro  contri- 
bute freely  to  the  Company  every 
year. 


00032691481 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


iiiiiiliii 

iiijiJIP 


